Blacks and whites

I was having my constitutional first cup of tea in the garden yesterday when I wondered what the crashing about by the house was and to my delight discovered that the blackbirds have not forsaken me and my mahonia bush.   There was one beautiful glossy black male doing his best to get a good tuck in - but not very quietly!

I picked a few handfuls of loganberries, the remaining red gooseberries - ouch! - and then the black currants - only a pound and a quarter but just enough to make a few pots of jam, my first ever black currant jam.   I was surprised to discover that you add water to the fruit - but it worked out OK, only OK.   I think I should perhaps have picked the fruit a little less ripe and made allowances for the small quantity in the pan as it cooked very fast and set so quickly I had to scrape - rater than pour - the last potful out of the pan.   Still, it was a start.

More picking flower buds off dahlias this week to encourage stronger growth and I remembered to give them a good feed with Growmore.   Elsewhere the different forms and textures of foliage are coming to the fore with a few exceptions such as bright red crocosmia Lucifer,  a prolific clematis "Minuet" hiding from the house behind the trellis (bad design move!) and the white perennial sweetpea providing about the most prolific flowers at present.

Normally white, this Iceberg rose has been discoloured by the rain

The odd, quaint, bloom sometimes provides the most satisfaction at this time of year.